


Round and Round

by labramazing



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-07 01:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1879677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labramazing/pseuds/labramazing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were so many questions he could have asked her, but Bucky found himself responding with no more than a slight nod.  He was at a loss for words.  She was supposed to drive them to the movies, just like she did every weekend, not drag him around the entirety of Manhattan.  Whatever she was doing seemed to be important, so it was best not to question it.  Questioning Natasha at the wrong moments usually left Bucky with a handprint redder than Steve’s face when Bucky made sex jokes around him.  Still, they had been seeing a movie every weekend since they started working together.  It wasn’t like her to change things up like this with no notice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round and Round

Three loud knocks followed by a very predictable “I’m here to pick up a fossil!” told Bucky that he better get his ass moving; his ride was here. The fossil joke grew into more of an expected greeting than an insult after the first few times Natasha had used it on him, and Steve too of course, but every time the words escaped her lips, she couldn’t help but to smile or giggle. The joke grew old for everyone but Natasha, but if that stupid joke made her happy, then Bucky would listen to it for the rest of his life if he had to.

As soon as Bucky opened the door, Natasha had him by the arm and was dragging him down the hall of the apartment complex, down flights upon flights of stairs, out the door, and into the crowded city streets. There was no explanation as to what she was doing or why they were moving so fast. Bucky had no idea why she was so excited; they were just going to see a movie, but he waited for her to say something.

“We’re going to my apartment.” Natasha finally said, nearly out of breath from lugging a man twice her size around for what seemed like miles. “Don’t worry.” she added shortly after. “If you’re really all that disappointed about missing that freaking kids movie we were gonna see then I’ll get us tickets for later.”

There were so many questions he could have asked her, but Bucky found himself responding with no more than a slight nod. He was at a loss for words. She was supposed to drive them to the movies, just like she did every weekend, not drag him around the entirety of Manhattan. Whatever she was doing seemed to be important, so it was best not to question it. Questioning Natasha at the wrong moments usually left Bucky with a handprint redder than Steve’s face when Bucky made sex jokes around him. Still, they had been seeing a movie every weekend since they started working together. It wasn’t like her to change things up like this with no notice. 

The walk wasn’t nearly as long as it seemed, but the bitter chill of the wind only made things drag on. The silence between them was sometimes interrupted with an “Oh, Bucky, why aren’t you wearing a jacket?” or “Jesus, your arm’s cold. I guess that’s what you get for having an appendage made of metal.”, but Natasha never explained what was going on or why it was going on. That was predictable for her. She always liked to keep people waiting, almost in a sort of suspense. She was lucky that he liked her. 

There was something about her that Bucky couldn’t help but to like. He assumed that everyone who had ever had the pleasure of laying their eyes on her felt this way. Natasha was fascinating. She was constantly happy and joking around, but she could kill a man if she needed to without even breaking a sweat. Her bright red hair bounced when she walked, and her eyes lit up when she spoke. She was strong, unpredictable, and crazy. She was everything that Bucky wasn’t, but somehow they worked perfect together. It must be true that opposites attract. If anything they were opposites attract on crack.

Now that they were finally standing outside of her door, Bucky still didn’t have the slightest clue as to why he was actually there. Natasha twisted her key in the door of her ninth story apartment, swung the door open, and motioned Bucky inside. It was pitch black and completely silent, which made him hesitant, but finally he shuffled inside. 

Before he could do or say anything, the lights flickered on and Sam and Steve jumped out from behind Natasha’s couch with a loud “Surprise!” Bucky flinched and swore and looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but it wasn’t long before they forced him into an obnoxiously colorful hat and had him smiling. They started to sing a stupid song and Sam smacked him on the shoulder, laughing, obviously proud that they had been able to pull this off without Bucky deciphering what was going on. It took him a few seconds to remember that it was his birthday, and that this wasn’t just some overly weird prank that they pulled on all of their friends.

Sam cut the cake, which he baked himself. He only said so about a hundred times. “I slaved over my oven all day to get this cake just right, man.” he said “Captain jerk here said that this is your favorite.” Of course Steve was right. Sam’s masterpiece was nothing but chocolate. The cake was chocolate, the icing was chocolate, the filling was chocolate, and of course there were chocolate sprinkles to top it all off. After all the years they spent apart, Steve still knew Bucky like the back of his hand. He was sure that, if given the opportunity, he could finish the whole thing on his own. He could swear that he never tasted anything better. 

Natasha somehow managed to find more ways to poke fun at Steve and Bucky over their age. They played games and exchanged fun stories and laughed together. It was just the four of them finally able to spend time together without the fate of humanity resting on their shoulders. It was hard for any of them to find time to enjoy themselves when the world needed their attention, and on those rare occasions where everything was running smoothly, they usually found themselves restless for other reasons. Nightmares kept Bucky awake almost constantly. He was a killer. People died because of him, and his dreams never let that escape from his mind.

Still, it was hard to remember that when he was surrounded by so many people who cared about him. Natasha’s old man jokes drowned out the bad memories, even if only for a little while, and Sam’s cake made everything seem sweeter. Steve laughed at almost everything. It was a soft laugh, and almost hard to notice with everything else that was going on, but it was contagious. Every time Steve laughed, Bucky laughed too, and when Steve rested an open hand on his knee like it was nothing, Bucky could feel his face turning red.

When Sam and Steve finally left, Natasha nearly had to push them out the door, insisting that she didn’t need help cleaning up the place. “There was only four people here” she said. “You’re both annoying, get out of my house before I kick you out.”

Natasha’s threat, although lighthearted, was enough to get them out the door. As soon as the duo left, she turned around to see Bucky cleaning up putting things away, which is exactly what she stressed that she didn’t need help with. Four adults don’t exactly make a terrible mess; however, instead of wasting her time and energy to shove Bucky out the door, she figured she could make an interesting game of things and waste her time and energy in much more enjoyable ways. 

Quickly, Natasha dipped her fingers in leftover icing and crept up behind the tall figure that was now absorbed in washing the dishes in her sink. Sneaking up behind him wasn’t exactly all that difficult or time consuming for her, considering it was exactly what she was trained to do, but she was careful anyway. After all, she wasn’t the only one trained in this field. Before Bucky could even realize that she was preparing to attack, she had her icing coated fingers all over his face. Bucky smirked, but he didn’t let her prank get the best of him. He wasted no time pinning Natasha to the ground and wiped the sweet frosting she had smeared all over his face right onto hers.

Normally, Natasha wouldn’t even come close to being in this situation. She was stealthy and smart and always one step ahead of everyone else, whether they had a mechanical arm or not. This wasn’t normally. This was Natasha and Bucky and whatever screwed up friendship they had between them. “Really, Tash, is this how it’s gonna be?” Bucky would say every time, and she would laugh and squirm and act like she was trying to get away. Bucky knew that she could turn the tables in an instant, and she usually did. She could play fight like this with him for hours and never get tired of it. For someone who seemed so stoic to the outside world, Natasha sure did light up whenever she found the time to spend with Bucky. He felt privileged in a way that he got to see this side of a trained assassin. 

Their wrestling matches never lasted long. They usually ended in one of them getting distracted with something else and giving up. More than once they somehow ended in heated debates that would leave them mad at each other for days. When Natasha finally decided that is was her turn to take control and flipped their positions, she was going on a mile a minute about how fun it would be to braid his hair. Before Bucky could even reject the idea, she had her brush in hand and was silently working through the knots and tangles throughout his hair. He would never openly admit it, but he enjoyed when people played with his hair. It wasn’t exactly that he enjoyed the way it looked or the way it felt, but the special attention and care given to him in that moment made him feel like he was worth something after all.

The silence between them was never awkward, but it never lasted long either. “So how’s the love life, Buck?” Natasha asked, nudging him playfully. She played it off as a joke, and it would have been believable if Bucky didn’t know her so well. Natasha was naturally curious. Half of the things she asked about wouldn’t concern most people, but she had to know everything. Not only that, but she had a knack for anything to do with romance, or at least she thought so. She had tried to set Steve up on too many dates to count. “This girl is the one, I swear!” she would insist. Steve would sigh and nod and go out on the date just to entertain her, but there never was a second date. She would try again and again, but she could never get Steve’s type right. 

“Nonexistent.” Bucky replied, expecting Natasha to laugh and move on, but he could tell just by looking at her that she wouldn’t take that as an answer.

“Bucky, are you trying to tell me that after all this time there’s no one you’re even slightly interested in?” Bucky nodded, causing Natasha to shake her head. “Well, that’s a load of bull crap.”

“Tash, I’m not really worrying about it right now.” he sighed. “You know saving the world, trying to prove I’m not a mass murder anymore. It’s all a little bit more important than figuring out who I’m gonna bang next.”

“It’s more than that, Bucky.” she tapped her foot on the ground, almost angrily. “You’re not going to admit it, are you? I’m going to have to say it.” Her voice was stern now, despite the fact that she continued to work her hands through his hair like it was her job.

They were both silent for a while. Bucky honestly had no idea what she was talking about, but she acted like she was trying to pull vital information out of him. She was sure that Bucky knew exactly what she was talking about, when in reality he had no idea. 

“You have the hots for Steve Rogers!” Natasha finally blurted out. Bucky was sure if he was drinking anything it would have been all over, and his face quickly turned a bright shade of red, despite his best efforts to play it cool. “I see the way that you look at him. You two are like a married couple. You know everything about each other and you’re always making bedroom eyes at each other across the room. I swear to god Bucky, everyone knows that you two are in love but you two!”

“Natasha, we are just friends.” Bucky insisted, but Natasha could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t telling the full truth. Even he knew that he wasn’t telling the full truth. Ever since he first laid eyes on Steve, he knew that there was something special about him. Even when Steve could barely walk a flight of stairs without someone having to call an ambulance, he was determined to make something of himself. He could easily stay home while more able bodied people fought for their country, but Steve was determined to make an impact on the world. He would do whatever he could to stand up to the bullies. Even when he couldn’t see colors, he was constantly creating art. “Bucky, what color is this?” he would ask and Bucky would tell him and help him pick out the right color. He would never let his disabilities stand in the way of him doing what he wanted. When Steve got the serum and he could do everything that caused him trouble before with ease, he still fought for what was right and made his difference in the world. Even when he could have easily killed Bucky to save the world, he let him live, almost costing him his life. There was something special about Steve Rogers, and it was more than a just friends kind of special.

Bucky must have been thinking for longer than he realized because when he finally started paying attention to what was going on around him again, Natasha was looking at him like he had grown an extra head. “So, you were thinking of something just now.” Natasha said, her confused expression remaining plastered on her face. “And I’m going to assume it was Steve?” She made it out like she was asking a question, but she knew the answer. “I could set you guys up you know. I’ve set Steve up with a bunch of cute girls before, it can’t be that much different with a cute guy.”

“Yeah, and look how well that went.” Bucky scoffed. “I’m pretty sure one of his dates tried to kill him.”

“Oh shut up.” Natasha said, punching him on the shoulder. “Besides, you guys are different. You guys have a history. Plus I’m pretty sure you guys have a lot of similar things to talk about. You guys really only have each other, unless you want to take a walk to the elderly home a couple of blocks down and talk about those flying cars you liked.”

“I hate you, Tash.” Bucky joked, playfully shoving Natasha.

“I love you too, Bucky.”


End file.
